Oldest flying F-22 Raptor returns to service

Lt. Col. Lee Bryant, 411th Flight Test Squadron commander and F-22 Combined Test Force director, addresses base leadership along with Lockheed Martin and Boeing representatives and guests, to welcome back to life Raptor # 91-4006, which has been on the ground for almost six years.

In November 2012, F-22 Raptor 4006 needed costly upgrades and the decision was made to put it into storage, possibly never to fly again

On Aug. 27, 2018 a ceremony held in Hangar 1635 at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) celebrated the rebirth of one of the original F-22 Raptors ever built.

Base leadership joined the 411th Flight Test Squadron and F-22 Combined Test Force (CTF), along with Lockheed Martin and Boeing representatives, to welcome back to life Raptor #91-4006, which has been on the ground for almost six years.

As told by Kenji Thuloweit, 412th Test Wing Public Affairs, in the article Oldest flying F-22 Raptor takes to sky again, the fifth-generation fighter was one of the first F-22 Raptors to have avionics installed for testing and has been at the 411th FLTS since it arrived in May 2001.

However, in November 2012, Raptor 4006 needed costly upgrades and the decision was made to put it into storage, possibly never to fly again due to the budget sequestration at the time, according to Lt. Col. Lee Bryant, 411th FLTS commander and F-22 CTF director.

F-22 Raptor #4006 makes its second flight July 18 following an extensive refurbishment to get it back in the air

“This was a gainfully employed airplane when she was working,” said Steve Rainey, Lockheed Martin F-22 chief test pilot and member of the F-22 CTF. Rainey also emceed the ceremony.

After eventually getting approval and funding from the Air Force to overhaul the Raptor, a “purple” team of Air Force, Lockheed and Boeing personnel worked for 27 months here at Edwards to restore the jet back to flying status. This included 25,000 man-hours and almost 11,000 individual fixes/parts. The completed refurbishment extends the Raptor’s life from 2,000 flight hours to 4,000 FH and gives it newer avionics systems for testing.

Rainey was the first military F-22 Raptor pilot while in the Air Force and has worked on the Raptor program almost since its beginning. It was only fitting that the “new” F-22 was completed July 17 when Rainey took the newly refurbished Raptor to the sky for its “second first flight.”

Raptor 4006 is currently the oldest flying F-22. It will now be used as a flight sciences aircraft, which will be an integral part of F-22 fleet modernization.